This course is designed to help each student – regardless of 
skill level or prior knowledge – acquire and improve 
communication skills over his/her academic and work careers. 
Research strongly supports a positive correlation between 
adept student communication behaviors (clear, concise, 
persuasive, inclusive language), top skills sought by 
employers, and quality job offers. Moreover, employers 
consistently report that communication skills are lacking in a 
significant number of hires across the country.

The goal of this course is to assist each student in the 
development of his/her communication skills, including 
opportunities that call for public speaking, resolving 
interpersonal conflict and crafting effective written 
communiques.

Topics for oral presentations
-Audience analysis 
-Message content and design
-Preparing for resistance 
-Storytelling with data; importance of logic and emotional 
balance for call to action
-Choosing media 
-Thinking like a designer       
-Practice

Topics for Conflict Management
-Conflict as bacteria:  We need it; how to tell the productive 
from the unproductive
-Various conflict “styles” as tendencies or habits
-How to discern a potentially “crucial” or critical conflict 
that needs attention, intervention – and who owns it
-Mastering the power of dialogue

Topics for Business Writing
-Why are you writing? (Importance of/when to use various 
communication channels)      
-Using the MACJ model for reports – madman, architect, 
carpenter, judge
-5 C’s: clarity, conciseness, continuity, completeness, clean 
(error-free) – these work together as career accelerators or 
limiters 
-How to organize material
-Tone/voice – your writing is part of your identity